To kick start off my 2013 'learn a song a month' challenge, I decided to learn a piece by Hungarian guitarist/composer Tom Lumen. I first heard this piece, titles 'Ragged Robin' on the Maton Guitars Facebook page, where they used it as a backdrop song for demo of a heat sensitive coffee mug that would display a picture of a guitar as the hot beverage was poured into it.

I was struck by the beauty of this song, and how it evoked the feeling of a fresh new morning when I heard it, so I commented on the Facebook post that I would love to get my hand on the sheet music for this song.

Lo and behold, Tom Lumen himself responded to my post, and kindly offered to send me the music via email, which he did on the same day. I set myself the goal to learn the piece within 4 days and record my attempts.

To say it was a poor attempt is an understatement. When Tom listened to the track, he gave me some kind and useful feedback. My tempo was all over the place. I totally agree with that. Tempo is something that I seem to have lost in my 15 year break away from playing the guitar. I am going to have to work hard at getting it back, and this piece was certainly a challenge to hold the tempo throughout all the changes.

I intend to redo this piece sometime during the year when I have better control over my tempo, and record it again and see how I have improved.